Wednesday, December 12, 2012

HUNGARIAN CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS : EMBROIDERY and CRAFTS

The other day I was shopping for HUNGARIAN or HUNGARIAN INSPIRED Christmas ornaments - decorations for the tree, the "Christmas Tree" that is a tradition that came from the Northern European countries and from Pagan tree worship but which is popular in most European countries as it is in the United States. 

I found  many selections on line that are in the category of patriotic flags, flag colors, and Hungarian sayings.

I wanted something more traditional, and I think that means Hungarian embroidery; hearts, roosters, cats, boots, angels, and pigs, owls, even dogs - devil dogs, all embroidered colorfully on cut out shapes made of felt. I understand that a slang term for this type of ornament is MATYOS after the ethnic people, you could say a sub-group of Hungarians, who perhaps most excelled in the art and lived mostly in the Abauj-Torno- Zemplen counties which are today up against Slovakia. (You see this embroidery on folk costumes (clothes) too.)

Although I'm not too experienced with embroidery, I was introduced to it as a child and believe that I could make one or two ornaments of felt in the same spirit.